All about dinosaurs, fossils and prehistoric animals by Everything Dinosaur team members.

There are a number of species assigned to the Diplodocus genus, at least three, but potentially there may be several more (nomen dubium, Seismosaurus and Amphicoelias notwithstanding). Everything Dinosaur has commissioned almost as many Diplodocus illustrations as there were potential species. Our latest Diplodocus drawing is going to be used in several projects including within an updated Diplodocus fact sheet (Diplodocus longus).

Everything Dinosaur’s Illustration of Diplodocus (D. longus)

A drawing of Diplodocus.

Picture Credit: Everything Dinosaur

Named As a Result of Its Tail

There are a few dinosaurs that have been named as result of their tails. Diplodocus is one such dinosaur*. Under a number of caudal vertebrae (tail bones), there was a length of bone that played a role in strengthening the extraordinarily long tail (estimated to have exceeded fifteen metres in length in some specimens) and protecting blood vessels. This is the “double beam” that gave Diplodocus its name. The first Diplodocus fossils were found in Colorado and this Sauropod dinosaur was named and described by the great American palaeontologist Othniel Charles Marsh (1877).

This quadrupedal herbivore may have been known to science for nearly 140 years but we thought it time to add a new Diplodocus drawing to our database. Just as “Dippy” is relocated from the main, central gallery at the Natural History Museum (London), so we have added a new representation of this Sauropod to our collection of illustrations.

* Cauditeryx (Tail Feather) is another, can you name a dinosaur named from its tail?